Some of the conventional TV game devices have a built-in backup memory, and are structured such that the level of progress of the game and the types of the characters (objects indicating characters) can be stored as parameter data in the backup memory. By storing the progress of the game in the backup memory on a regular or a manual basis, the player can restart the game from the state of progress immediately before the power was switched off. Since a backup memory was conventionally built inside a game device, all of the parameter data saved in the backup memory could be managed by the game device and the management procedures were simple.
Furthermore, some of the game devices were structured such that flags indicating prohibition of duplication were added to the parameter data, and overwriting of data was prohibited whenever a flag prohibiting duplication of data was placed.
However, the recent spread of game devices with separable backup memories has caused several inconveniences to the conventional backup memory management.
For example, if a backup memory is structured to allow replacement, a backup memory storing parameter data of a game played halfway by someone else can be applied to a game device. Therefore, even a player playing the game for the first time can use a backup memory stored by others and start a game from halfway. However, game software is manufactured with the purpose of having a single player play the game from the beginning until the end. Nonetheless, if such “bypass” use of game software is possible, this may impair the difficulty of the game, i.e., an important feature of a game.
Similarly, since a backup memory can be replaced even in the process of a game, by replacing a backup memory with another backup memory and overwriting the parameter data, one may duplicate a backup memory which records the progress of the same game. This allows an exchange of backup memories with others, and unauthorized start of a game from halfway may be thereby promoted.
Nevertheless, such problem can not be solved by simply adding the flags for prohibiting duplication of data when saving parameter data and prohibiting overwriting of data whenever these flags are placed, because this creates a different problem. Namely, such a structure forced the players to play the game from the beginning should the parameter data in the backup memory be destroyed by a physical defect, and is therefore considerably disadvantageous for the players.
Accordingly, in view of the aforementioned inconveniences, the inventors of the present invention have devised a memory management technology preferable to a game device having a separable memory. More specifically, the purpose of this invention is to provide a memory management device, a memory management method, a game device, an information processing device, a data storing method and a recording medium, which can detect the duplication of data stored in a separable memory without fail and impose an appropriate sanction.